Category: Wind Energy
[The Vector] Wind Energy — Tilting at the Leaders in Windmills
| February 26, 2011 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
General Electric has shown its intent to become the leading player in offshore wind power. At the start of July GE signed an agreement with two Scandinavian energy companies to install and test four floating 4MW wind turbines off the coast of Norway. The rotors on the turbines will be 110 meters in diameter, and each turbine will be capable of generating power for 1,000 homes.
In all, GE has plans to invest approximately €340 million ($425 million) in offshore wind turbine manufacturing and service facilities in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK. More than $90 million of that funding is being invested in Norway on an Offshore Technology Development Center in Oslo and production of its turbine demonstration units. Read More
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[The Vector] Financing for World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm
| February 10, 2011 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
Financing arrangements for the first phase of the world’s largest offshore wind farm are in the books. The London Array wind farm will cover 90 square miles, seven miles offshore in the outer Thames Estuary. It is eventually expected to have a capacity of 1,000 MW. Read More
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Hot Webinar on Power Transmission
| January 28, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I try to stay up on the more exciting goings on in power transmission because of its obvious relationship to the penetration of clean energy generally. Less than 2% of our current grid-mix in the US is renewables at this point, and so such issues like smart-grid, high-voltage DC, unification of the three major US grids (600 gigawatts in the east, 240 gigawatts in the west, and 70 gigawatts in Texas) – as well as related areas like energy storage – are all but moot at this point. But, if we’re serious about installing more wind and PV – not to mention geothermal, run-of-river hydro, solar thermal, etc., this whole subject will soon become critically important. Read More
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Take a COOL Guess – the Fun Quiz on Clean Energy (and Global Warming Remedy). Today’s Topic: Wind Turbines
| January 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
Question: Approximately what percentage of the energy of the wind, flowing past the familiar three-blade turbines, is extracted and moved into the turbine shaft?
Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732.
Relevance: We come across numerous attempts to improve this figure. And, as the answer shows, there IS room for improvement – though not as much as the casual observer may think. Having said that, one of the top investment opportunities I recommend here is headed by a colleague who, I believe, really has made an important breakthrough.
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[The Vector] Super Offshore Turbines in Development – Despite Difficulties
| December 29, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
A consortium of companies in Spain are planning to build a 15 MW turbine. The turbine manufacturer Gamesa will lead the €25 million ‘Azimut’ project to build the 15 MW giant together with 11 other wind and engineering companies and 22 research centres, according to a report in Business Green. The Azimut project is expected to run for four years.
Meanwhile, the effort to build the Britannia 10MW offshore turbine seems to have been rescued from the brink of trouble.
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[The Vector] Global Offshore Wind Sector Expanding Rapidly
| December 26, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
The global offshore wind turbine market is expected to almost double this year after record growth last year, according to a report published in October by Danish consulting company MAKE. MAKE predicts the expansion will continue into 2015.
The decade-long struggle to approve and construct Cape Wind, the United States’ first offshore wind farm, looks to be reaching a successful conclusion. At the end of November, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a 15-year power purchase agreement for National Grid to purchase Cape Wind’s power and RECs. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has promised to fast-track future offshore wind projects in the same way that he has fast-tracked solar energy projects on public lands.
But just as the US makes small beginnings in offshore wind development, onshore developments seem to have fallen off a cliff. SNL Energy estimates that the power generation capacity of onshore wind energy projects in the first three quarters of 2010 was 64% down on the capacity that came online in the first three quarters of 2009.
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[The Vector] Low Cost Power from High Altitude Winds
| December 11, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
A near full-scale prototype of an airborne wind energy system that generates power from constant, high-speed, high-altitude winds will be tested in Piedmont, Italy, in the coming weeks.
When fully operational, KiteGen should be capable of generating 3MW of power. The KiteGen concept was recognized at the Copenhagen Climate summit as among the top 20 leading innovations.
The prototype 150m2 kite will be automatically operated from a revolving dome at ground level – similar to a ship’s gun turret – that contains the electronic control systems and the mechanism to feed the kite in and out. As the kite climbs its fast-turning cable spool generates electricity. When the kite reaches its maximum height, tension on one side is released and the kite begins to drop groundwards. The falling cable is rapidly rewound, needing only a fraction of the energy that was generated as the kite climbed. Once the kite reaches its minimum height, tension is restored to both sides of the kite and it starts to climb once more. When the system has been fully tested, it is intended to use a 500m2 kite. Read More
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William Penn’s Legacy of Peace and Environmental Stewardship
| December 5, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I spent my K–12 years at a Quaker school in Philadelphia, William Penn Charter. And as one would imagine, an education based on Quaker values is rife with reminders of brotherly love and peaceful resolution to conflict. In fact, the Greek motto in the school’s seal translates into English as the command: “Love one another.”
I smiled as I read the school’s quarterly magazine this morning. My chest swelled with pride as I learned that the new Center for the Performing Arts was granted a coveted LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for its use of wind energy, recycled materials and natural insulation. How effortlessly Quaker philosophy and environmentalism go hand-in-hand; the imperative to make the world a better place lies at the very core of this warm and contemplative way of life.
William Penn and his values had a profound influence on his time (late 17th / early 18th Century — the school was chartered in 1689; Penn died in 1718) though, sadly, that influence has diminished greatly over the years. Read More
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Ocean Renewable Energy Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
| November 19, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I just got off the phone with Christopher Barry, a fascinating naval engineer who comes from decades of work in nautical science. Chris was good enough to take me through scads of examples all of which illustrated a very important fact:
There are dozens of points of crossover between the tons of engineering work that has already gone into the traditional world of shipbuilding and offshore drilling – and what the renewables industry is now trying to accomplish in offshore wind and ocean energy, e.g., tidal, wave, etc.
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About Amir Mikhail, Contributor to “Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies” – Wind Power
| August 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
Dr. Amir Mikhail, Clipper’s senior vice president of engineering, contibuted to the book’s chapter on wind. Clipper Windpower is one of the most visible organizations on Earth in the race to provide solutions that offer utility-scale clean energy. The company strives to advance the technologies and services that make its customers successful in the expansion of wind energy, lessening the impacts of fossil fuel generation.
